President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Kuwait today to attend the Summit of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue.

Asian leaders are set to hold the first summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue beginning in Kuwait tomorrow to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation to protect Asian countries from the global economic crisis.

The three-day summit of the 32-member ACD in the capital of Kuwait, will also focus on ways to activate the forum, which was set up in 2002 to strengthen regional cooperation and dialogue among Asian countries.

Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad will open the summit at the Liberation Conference Building while the inaugural session is to be addressed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is the General Coordinator of the ACD.